Investor confidence hits a two-year high as CE gets back on track for growth

Bratislava, October 22 2013. Investor confidence in CE is at a two-year high, according to the latest Deloitte CE Private Equity Confidence Survey. It is the first time in four years the survey has shown improvement for two consecutive six-month periods.

“A number of reasons support this uptick in optimism. First, the threat of the imminent collapse of the Eurozone has receded, and a return to growth, albeit modest, has helped to boost confidence right across Europe." The report shows a more than four-fold increase in the proportion of respondents who anticipate further economic improvement in the months to come “ according to Deloitte CE Partner and Private Equity Leader Garret Byrne.

“This is particularly important, as such growing confidence helps boost the number of deals being done across the CE region. In fact, the proportion of those respondents expecting such an increase has nearly doubled since our last survey in May 2013.”

Indeed nearly 60% of respondents expect to focus on new deals over the next six months. Further good news came from the fundraising trail, with three CE PE Funds (3TS Capital Partners, Abris Capital Partners and Enterprise Investors) raising close to €1 billion between them to continue fuelling investment activities in the region.

But as Mr Byrne comments, “This leaves at least twice as many regional firms continuing to focus on fundraising or preparing to do so, meaning that we cannot as yet expect an explosive increase in deal size and numbers. Moving forward, it will be interesting to gauge their success in raising the funds they’re looking for.”

An improving economic backdrop has helped restore confidence, which is crucial to deal-doing. We are bullish that the foundations are in place for a return to healthy private equity activity in CE

“The situation in Slovakia is traditionally affected by the size of investment opportunities or their growth potential, which limits the interest of international private equity players. However, there are many small and medium-sized enterprises eg in the field of software solutions, technology, healthcare, food and production, which are interesting targets for regionally-operating PE players and Slovak financial investors. Their activities are also aimed at assessing investment opportunities outside of the Slovak Republic,” added Maroš Sokolovský, Financial Advisory Services Partner at Deloitte.

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Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of DTTL and its member firms.